Friday, February 13, 2009

Taking lemons and making lemonade

In a game last April, Portland's Martell Webster scored 23 against the Lakers. Two days later, after starting 70 games for the Blazers, he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and missed the rest of the season.

This preseason, Webster was challenging to get his starting spot back when, in an exhibition game in early October, he broke his foot.

After two months of rehab, Webster logged five minutes in a Dec. 7 game against TOR. During that short span, he aggravated the broken foot, forcing him to return to rehab.

It's hard to argue that Webster's been handed a bunch of lemons. But he's used the down time to improve -- mentally.

"It's allowed me to experience the game from a whole different aspect," he said. "I almost feel like an assistant coach. I see coach McMillan write up plays and then watch to see if they actually unfurl on the court. Sitting behind the bench you see things differently. It's kind of weird in a way, but watching from that point of view kind of slows the game down. I feel like I'm learning a lot more about the X's and O's of the game."